*Tommy Franks, retired U.S. Army 4-star General, was the U.S. General leading the attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. He also led the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. His last Army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States Armed Forces operations in a 25-country region, including the Middle East. General Franks succeeded General Anthony Zinni to this position on 6 July 2000 and served until his retirement on 7 July 2003.

General Franks served his country (us) for almost 40 years and such dedication deserves recognition. One does not attain the rank of four star General without technical military and personal leadership skills which Franks demonstrated in leading troops in two major engagements in the space of as many years.

History, however, will not be kind to Gen. Franks. Diverting troops from Tora Bora to Iraq prolonged the conflict in Afghanistan. Had we crushed Al Qaeda then, we might have left after a few months (without the vain attempt at nation-building) instead of trying to achieve a subsequent false victory trying to crush the Taliban.

I agree with most of his tactical moves in Iraq including the disregard for the Fedayeen irregular fighters who posed no serious threat to the invading allied forces. Their threat was not stopping the invasion; their threat was in becoming the basis for the long-term resistance.

Gen. Franks should have known the troops available were insufficient to hold and maintain the peace during an occupation of Iraq subsequent to the successful invasion. If he did not, he was incompetent and should not have been in the position he held. His retirement shortly after the end of the major conflict (invasion) left others to deal with the can of worms he assisted in opening.

The “politics” of the Iraq invasion is a long shadow which darkens both Generals Franks and Powell’s careers.

Many books will be written about the “politics of generalship” coming out of these two wars in this next decade. It is always delicate to confront the civilian authority while you are a serving officer, but sometimes personal honor and loyalty to your service (and those under your command) demand it.

In this, both Franks and Powell failed themselves and our country – and history will not be kind…

Dale, I apologize for the lengthy comment, but this is a scab which gets torn off every now and then. Both of these men ARE great leaders who dedicated their lives to our country. It’s just a shame (in my opinion) they were not able to rise to the last (and greatest) challenge of their distinguished careers.

This is exactly the kind of comment I like. I wish I got more like it. It is not the length, but the content, that is important. And, when you have quality in content, I’ll let you write a post for me, let alone a comment. I am glad that my post has inspired such thought, and I encourage you to make many more comments like it when your thoughts begin to tingle your fingertips on the keyboard. Thanks, again, for sharing.